Colin Edwards is set to get his first taste of CRT machinery as he joins new employers NGM Forward Racing for private testing at Jerez this week.

The American has been out of action since injuring himself in the tragic accident that also claimed the life of Marco Simoncelli during the early stages of the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Forcing him to miss his swansong appearance with Yamaha, whom he has competed with since 2005, as well as the first outing with NGM Forward Racing during the post-season test, Edwards will make a belated appearance on the BMW-engined Suter chassis in Spain instead.

Though it remains to be seen how close to full fitness Edwards is, the American's test will be keenly watched by rivals uncertain about the competitiveness of the CRT machines, which have so far been sampled in public by far less experienced riders.

During the post-season test at Valencia earlier this month, Laglisse Suter-BMW rider Carmelo Morales was the top CRT competitor, emerging with a best lap of 1min 35.911secs, just over four seconds behind pace setter Dani Pedrosa.

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I can't imagine he's fit enough yet to push the bike very hard, so this is probably just first impressions. When he's back to full health then I'd expect Colin to set the performance benchmark for other CRT teams and riders.